Downtown Long Beach will be all about two-wheeled transportation when the annual Bike Fest returns on May 7.

The noon to 9 p.m. event is happening in the East Village, and it’s aimed at experienced racers with a competitive edge as well as casual riders in the bike-friendly city.

“Long Beach has this diversity that I don’t think any other city has when it comes to its bicycling, and that’s what Bike Fest tries to cater to,” said Brian Addison, communications manager for the Downtown Long Beach Associates, the organizers of the event.

About 5,000 people are expected to attend the festival.

Casual riders can enjoy live music from such bands as Tall Walls, winners of last year’s Buskerfest, a beer garden and a Vendor Village selling and showing off all things related to bikes.

People can also check out the more serious cyclists when they compete in such events as the City Cross obstacle course, which starts at 1 p.m. and includes riders traveling through alleyways and over crushed cars.

A more stable race of sorts will take place at 2 p.m. in a competition called Gold Sprints.

In this race, cyclists compete on stationary bikes while their progress and speed is tracked on a large screen. It’s like a cycling class at the gym but with a lot more competition and bragging rights for the winner.

And for the real legit fearless cyclist, there’s the always popular 7:30 p.m. Crit races, organized by the riding group Wolfpack Hustle.

Following the 4:30 p.m. qualifiers, the final racers will pedal around a short course on city streets on brakeless fixed-gear and road bikes as they reach speeds of up to 30 mph.

“These are hard-core cyclists,” Addison said. “There are very few rules other than the type of bike. You just go for it and do whatever it is you need to get in first place, and there’s definitely some contact.”

The Bike Fest happens just before a few other big cycling events in the city, including the May 14 Tour of Long Beach.

This annual fundraising ride benefits pediatric cancer research at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach. The tour includes several courses for experienced and amateur cyclists.

Then on July 17 the Beach Babe Bicycling Classic returns to the city. The race is a casual ride from Long Beach to Huntington Beach and back. It’s not timed and there is no winner.

For bike enthusiasts, Bike Fest marks the beginning of some of their favorite events.

“This is the best time of year for people who ride,” said Martin Espinosa, a Long Beach resident and avid cyclist as he secured his bike on a rack in downtown on a recent afternoon.

Espinosa has attended the Bike Fest before and in particular he’s a fan of the Crit races.

“It’s insane how competitive it is and how fast they go,” he said.

This year things will get even more interesting, said Don Ward, founder of Wolfpack and the race director.

“It’s a new format and its attracting riders from all over the world actually. Riders from the U.K., Colombia and Spain are coming,” Ward said.

The Crit race will include motorcycle pace bikes that will look for cyclists that are falling behind and about to get lapped. The motos will then pull the cyclists from the race.

It’s done for the safety of the slower riders and the others passing them at high speeds. But it’s also part of the attraction of the race, Ward admits.

“When people get pulled that’s always fun,” he said. “And racing with no brakes is also part of the fun.”

“There are ways to stop where you skid the tire, but that’s kind of the whole point: You don’t stop,” he said.

If You Go:

When: Noon- 9 p.m. May 7.

Where: East Village along Linden Avenue between First Street and Broadway.